Veronica Samu

Veronica Samu serves as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Japanology within the Institute of East Asia at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Károli Gáspár Reformed University in Budapest, Hungary. Specializing in linguistics and translation studies with particular expertise in Japanese onomatopoeia, she maintains regular reception hours on Tuesdays from 12:00-13:00 (currently conducted online by prior arrangement).

• MA in Japanology (2011) from Károli Gáspár Reformed University
• PhD in Linguistics (defense scheduled for 2024) from University of Pécs
• Dissertation: "A sound-schema-based analysis of Japanese and Hungarian onomatopoeias in a contrastive approach – with special regard to the semantic domains mapped by sound schemes"

Dr. Samu's research centers on Japanese onomatopoeia, investigating its morphosemantic structures, cognitive foundations, and pedagogical applications. Her work explores how sound schemas map semantic domains across Japanese and Hungarian languages, revealing cross-linguistic parallels. She extends this research to translation studies, particularly regarding culture-specific words between Japanese and Hungarian, and develops innovative approaches to teaching Japanese onomatopoeia through artistic methods and visual aids. Her scholarship bridges theoretical linguistics with practical language instruction, focusing on how onomatopoeic elements enhance language acquisition.

Analysis of Dr. Samu's publications from 2012-2022 reveals a clear scholarly trajectory from theoretical linguistic analysis toward practical pedagogical applications. Her early work focused on translation strategies for Japanese phraseologisms and onomatopoeia, while her more recent publications (2021-2022) explore the artistic dimensions of onomatopoeic expressions across media—from children's literature to audiovisual arts. This evolution demonstrates her commitment to applying linguistic theory to enhance Japanese language teaching methodologies in Hungarian educational contexts, particularly through multimodal approaches that leverage artistic expression.

Dr. Samu has participated in significant professional development opportunities, including Japanese language programs at the Japan Foundation in 2015 and 2017, which have informed her cross-cultural research and teaching practices. Her linguistic expertise spans Japanese (advanced), English (intermediate), and Serbian (advanced), supporting her comparative research between Japanese and Hungarian languages. She has organized academic events such as the "Translation, not distortion" translators' workshop in 2016 and has contributed to the scholarly community through book reviews and conference organization.

Her research demonstrates consistent engagement with both theoretical linguistic frameworks and practical language teaching applications, particularly in the specialized domain of onomatopoeia across Japanese and Hungarian languages. This dual focus positions her work at the intersection of cognitive linguistics, translation studies, and language pedagogy, contributing to both academic discourse and practical educational methodologies in Japanology.